The End

Summary: After everything they've ever known is ripped away from them, a small group must embark on a journey filled with dangers. Both friends and enemies will arise, but the end may be closer than imagined.

The End

Inside a small dojo atop a small mountain, an old man
wearing a black gi with a golden sword design on the upper left, sat in front
of a group of about 20 students ranging from their early teens to mid-twenties
with his braided white beard resting in his lap. He was talking to them with a
stern voice that obviously carried wisdom and many years of hardships: “You
must remember, my students, in these tumultuous times it is important to stay
focused and level-headed. You must be prepared for anything.”

At that moment one of the students, a young girl with black
hair pulled back into a short ponytail, spoke up. With her sweet, innocent
smile that could light up any room she asked in a curious tone, “Why, Sensei?”

The old man began to open his mouth to answer, but a loud
explosion from outside shook the room and interrupted him.

At the same time one of the older boys stood up and grabbed
a nearby sword. “What was that?”

[Moments earlier- Off the coast of the island]

A large marine battleship was rapidly moving towards its
destination as a young marine wearing the standard issue uniforms for low
ranking members rushed onto the front deck. “Vice Admiral Tokage” the marine
panted, out of breath from rushing up to deliver the news. “We are nearing
Todai Island. The main lighthouse is nearly in sight.”

The Vice Admiral just stood there for a moment, face covered
in shadows and his marine coat hung from his shoulders waving in the breeze
exposing his black suit and blood red shirt and tie before responding. “Good;
fire a round at the lighthouse as soon as we’re in range. Then prepare all
cannons for a full scale bombardment.” As the young marine ran off to relay
instructions, Vice Admiral Tokage looked over his shoulder to his left at
another marine: “Contact Commodore Kristoff!” He then turned over his right
shoulder to another marine: “Contact Captain Kite!” Looking straight ahead he
spoke in a commanding voice to the two marines. “Tell them to make sure their
men are ready to charge once we land” he lowered his voice as he continued,
“and make sure they leave the line open.

Shortly afterwards, the massive battleship released a single
cannon shot. Upon impact, the lighthouse of the island could be seen toppling
and crashing to the ground followed by a complete volley of cannonfire along
the coast from the front triple cannon of the battleship. As the cannon blasts
continued to assault the coast and villages of the island the marines assigned
with charging the island stood at the ready on the decks of the battleship and
the two accompanying ships: smaller, standard marine vessels.

Vice Admiral Tokage cleared his throat and spoke in a
resounding, forceful tone into the Den Den Mushi he was holding in his
hands. Speaking to the 300 or so
commissioned marine officers on his battleship and the 100 or so each on
Commodore Kristoff’s and Captain Kite’s ships, Tokage proclaimed, “Men we are
here to rid the world of a great evil and mark a victory in the name of
Justice.” The men cheered and Tokage continued. “This island is harboring a
number of dangerous individuals, but none more noteworthy than former captain
of the Last Light pirates, Zande Ming, a man worth 250 million beli. From this
point on, proceed with utmost prejudice. Our target may have aged, but I assure
you, he is still worth every beli of his bounty. Do not worry however, men, for
we have the burning fury of Justice and Right on our side and on this day,
JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!” The ships shook with the fervor and passion of the
various men onboard just as the three ships arrived at the coast and the
marines prepared for their onslaught.

[At the Dojo]

“What?!” shouted a young man who looked to be just over 20.

“I said…the Marines are attacking the island.” came the
stern reply from a dark-skinned young man who looked to be slightly younger
than the one before and had a neat, trimmed mustache and goatee combination.
His brown eyes shown with a boiling fury as his black hair rested in neat
cornrows with the red tips lying on the back of his neck. He was dressed similarly
to the rest of the class in martial arts clothing, except he wore black karate
pants and a red sleeveless karate jacket with a black belt and black fingerless
gloves.

Various grumblings and mumbles came from the students:

“Marines?”

“Why are they attacking us?”

“I’m scared.”

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

“Aargh! The pirates on this island haven’t been active for
years! Why now?”

“Calm down my students.” The old man stated while standing
up, his authoritative voice quieting the noise with no need to be raised. “They
came for me.”

“But why Sensei,” came the tear-filled cry of the
black-haired young girl “you saved this village… and you’ve protected it ever
since.”

The old man, Zande Ming, didn’t respond and instead spoke to
the young man that initially told them what was happening: “Bo, where are
they?”

“They’re at the village, but even with the resistance,
they’re moving throughout the island quickly.”

Pondering this, Ming continued, “How many are there?”

After a few minutes, Bo answered, “There’s too many to
count, but there are three ships- two standard and a battleship.”

Ming’s face held back some surprise as he let out a sigh
before he spoke again. He started out softly, “I was afraid this day would
come, but even killing innocent villagers… the Marines truly have no shame.”
His voice returned to normal as he continued. “There’re most likely over 500
soldiers down there. Bo, Jason, Trey… lead the other students and escape this
place with as many other people as you can save.” He surveyed the entire room
and spoke softly: “Be careful. NOW GO!”

Bo was the first to speak up. He spoke with some trepidation
and even a hint of fear: “But Master, what about you?”

“They want me, they can have me. A pirate never runs from a
fight.” He finished with a slight smirk at the fact that he hadn’t referred to
himself as a pirate in years.

[Flashback- Seven years ago]

A small boat arrived at the coast of Todai Island with a
lone a man standing in the middle. The man appeared to be fairly aged with
pulled back white hair atop his head and a long braided beard falling past his
waist. As he stepped off of the boat, you could clearly see that he was wearing
an all-black hakama with a wooden sword by his side and a Jolly Roger, of a
normal skull and crossbones with a golden sword going through the top of the
skull, on the back.

On the docks looking at the odd newcomer were three rough
looking figures-a big, burly man full of muscles holding a giant wooden club, a
man almost as tall as the first, but with a bushy beard, a beer gut, and a
hefty axe, and a shorter, lean man with a rat face holding a gun standing in
between them- all similarly dressed in torn, dark brown pants and red muscle
shirts, that quickly went to address the man. They were waiting for him as soon
as he stepped of off his boat and shared a mischievous grin as the shorter man
began to speak in a false welcoming tone. “Hello sir, may I ask why you have
come here?” he said while motioning his arms to the town behind him.

“I’ve finally decided to end my lifelong journey and settle
down in this quiet village.” responded the old man in a tired voice not
actually paying much attention to the group.

The rat- faced man stepped forward with an annoyed look and
spread his arms wide while raising his voice to the old man: “We are members of
the elite Strong Arm mountain bandits that run this village. From now on, you
must pay us a monthly toll of 20,000 beli if you wish to live here.”

The old man lifted his head to look at the trio for the
first time and simply responded, “And if I refuse?”

At this the smile returned to the small man’s face as he
menacingly responded, “Why, we kill you of course.” He then motioned for his
two companions to move forward. “Friends give this stranger a taste of what the
Strong Arm bandits are capable of, but… don’t kill him” he added in a creepy
tone, “he may have some sense and pay us yet.” Turning his attention back to
the old man he added, “Or, we could always just take it off your corpse if you prefer.”

As the two larger men charged at him, the old man simply
took a step forward in between the two men that had their weapons raised and
without any additional movement- or so it seemed- the two men dropped their
weapons and immediately toppled to the ground unconscious.

Unsure of what had just occurred in front of him the
remaining bandit lifted the gun in his shaking hand, but before he could lift
it all the way, the old man was in front holding the barrel of the gun and
speaking in a stern voice, “Tell your boss, I would like to have a word with
him. I’ll be in town, probably at the bar.” The old man then crushed the barrel
of the gun in his bare hand and smiled at the bandit as he walked off.

Sometime later, while the old man was sitting quietly in the
town’s bar drinking some tea and hearing about all the pain and suffering the
villagers had suffered, and how they lived in a state of perpetual fear, since
the bandits took over, he heard a commotion start up outside, so he stepped up
from the stool he was seated on and finished up his tea before stepping outside
to confront the bandit leader and his thugs.

He was quickly spotted by the bandits as many of them
quickly flanked him and raised their guns ready to kill him as their leader, a
massive man probably ten feet tall and bursting with thick muscles with
scraggly black hair falling to his shoulders wearing only a pair of khaki
cutoff cargo pants, stepped between some of them and towards the old man
holding a massive sword befitting of his size, with a jagged, worn out looking
blade that had obviously seen more than its fair share of action. The towering
bandit leader bellowed to the old man in a deep voice, “I am the Leader of the
Strong Arm bandits, Samson Braun, with an immense bounty of 50 million beli,
and this is my island. Anyone who messes with my men shall...” He was cutoff as
a rock hit him squarely in the back of the head. Braun turned his head around
and glared at a group of teenage kids-a lean built boy with shoulder length
black hair, a fairly tall boy with grayish white hair going all the way down
his back, an overweight boy with spiky dark blonde hair, two identical boys
(one with red hair, the other with dark pink), and a tomboyish girl with long
black hair tied up into a baseball cap- standing on top of a roof a few houses
away, the black haired boy standing out front tossing another rock in his hand.

As Braun growled in anger and yelled a myriad of curses at
everyone, the overweight boy on the roof yelled something that couldn’t be heard
over the commotion. With a growl, he started to turn around and head towards
the kids, but was interrupted by the old man stating, “Your fights with me not
some kids.” prompting Braun to turn around with a smile and tell his men,
“Shoot him.” while waving a dismissive hand towards the old man.

While the bandits attempted to refocus their guns on their
target, the old man dropped into a fighting stance reaching for his wooden
sword. He quickly drew it and swiped twice- a horizontal slash, followed by a downward
one. Before anyone even knew what happened the thugs’ guns fell apart followed
by an unseen gust blowing all of the men, except the leader, to the ground and
knocking them unconscious.

Braun, now even angrier, stared in momentary disbelief
before lifting his sword above his head and growling before bringing it down
upon the old man. But, before it reached him, the man hit Braun in the side
with his wooden sword, breaking a few ribs, and as Braun stumbled, the old man
brought the wooden sword down with both hands on Braun’s neck with so much
force it broke numerous bones and caused Braun to crumple to the ground.

After this happened, the black haired kid from before ran to
the unconscious form of the bandit leader, kicked him and said, “Hmph! All brawn
and no brain.” Before the rest of the kids could pile on to the man, the old
man spoke up to the entire town which was crowded around, “My name is Zande
Ming, a pirate” Ming paused as the villagers let out a collective gasp then
continued, “I would like to retire here on your island. I will protect this
land and even start a dojo to train any kids who wish to learn the ways of the
warrior until the day I am no longer able to do so.”

[Present Time]

As a number of mumbles came from the younger students, Bo turned
back to the group with a hardened resolve and spoke with a forceful tone: “You
heard him. We will escape. We will not let our Master’s actions be in vain.”

With that the group led by the three older boys exited the
dojo, some rather begrudgingly, most of them carrying a weapon of some sort-
primarily swords or pole-arm type weapons, but most noticeable was that Bo only
carried a crimson bow with a quiver full of arrows- and started down the side
of the mountain in an attempt to go around all of the chaos taking place down
in the town and make it to a boat so they could escape.

tyleroakleyfan:
thank you for writing this story I loved it. it was great I enjoyed every minute of it I couldn't stop reading you did a fantastic job. Thanks for killing ron he was starting to piss me off. he was being a dick. I love that you made it a gay love story its about time someone did. love it great job.

Hawkebat:
Playing both Kotor I & II and Swtor I found the story line interesting and it held me until chapter 35 Very good story and plot flow until then, very few technical errors. I felt that the main character was a bit under and over powered, as it fought for balance. The last few chapters felt too f...

Sammi Chan:
THIS WAS AMAZING!!! My favorite part of this story was the slow build of Merlin and Arthur's relationship. Their relationship was rlly nicely fleshed out and so good :) The way that you handled the magic reveal was super enjoyable. I rlly liked the switching POVs. Good!Mordred was cute and I'm rl...

Ben Gauger:
Kudos to Bryan Laesch, author of Remnants of Chaos:Chaotic Omens for his use of the Gothic style of writing and in addition the footnotes and endnotes at the end of each chapter, a welcome accompaniment to be sure, though his use of grammar could use a little improving, but his use of punctuation...

Charlie_8472:
Recommended to me by a friend, I thought I'd give this a read. As a hobbyist blacksmith, the blurb certainly caught my attention. I found the sentence about them drinking, dancing and fighting a strange combination of activities, perhaps a reflection of the writer’s personality and humour. Howeve...

_JosephJacobson_:
I don't understand why this has such low ratings. I really enjoyed it!I think that the whole idea behind the plot had something very special and that was something that I really enjoyed. It was new, unique. I think that some of the writing was a little strange in places but overall it made sense ...

dd1226:
I love reading about other countries and I think this story about Cambodia after Polpot creates awareness of the tragedy that happened there and the actions of the U.N. to hold elections. The heroine of the story is easy to relate to, a modern, middleaged woman looking for an adventure, wanting t...

263Adder:
Okay so I adore this story. I only knocked one star off plot for historical inaccuracies because I'm a bit of a stickler for that. The ending broke my heart though, considering you already changed history couldn't you (SPOILER) change it a bit more and have them together!!!! I want an alternative...

:
This is a very interesting book - mostly because the heroine is quite charming and well rounded, and has very real issues to manage in her life. Most of all,. I loved the view inside of the life of a South Asian girl/woman, the emotional self-talk, the customs and preferences, the expectations a...

Flik:
Hi! ^.^ huge fan of yours on ff.net! When I saw the note about this contest on The Way We Smile, I couldn't help but rush over here, create an account, and vote! XD Seriously love this story and would recommend it to anyone! :D best FT fanfiction out there. Amazing story, amazing concept that wa...

Guywithgunz:
Vanessa's saga has been an ongoing labor of love for the author and her core gp of fans.The saga as a whole is a must read for fans of Adventure / SciFi stories. The uploads here are in need of a final look by an editor for the spelling and grammatical errors that have crept in somehow into the f...

Leah Brown:
This was an amazing read! I was hooked from the very first chapter, holding my breadth to see what would happen next. The characters are rich and vibrant, and the world Danielle has created is fascinating. If you love YA, you MUST read this book. Such a smart, brilliant debut novel. I loved it!